GARDEN CITY -- Five months before a gunman murdered four people during a pharmacy holdup for prescription painkillers, a police detective expressed concerns about the suspect being issued a pistol permit, but it appears no action was taken, according to a report published Friday.
The killer said in a jailhouse interview that even if police had confiscated his handgun license and .45-caliber pistol, he likely would have acquired a weapon to commit the homicides.
"If someone's dedicated enough, they can get a gun," David Laffer told Newsday. He also noted a rifle or a shotgun don't need a license.
Laffer pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree murder in the June killings of two employees and two customers at Haven Drugs in Medford, admitting he robbed the pharmacy of prescription painkillers. He is expected to receive consecutive life-without-parole sentences next month.
His wife, who drove the getaway car, faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery.
The gun crime -- the deadliest on Long Island since a gunman shot up a commuter railroad train in 1993, killing six -- focused national attention on the nagging problem of prescription drug robberies.
In January, Suffolk County Detective Kenneth Ripp expressed concerns Laffer had been issued a pistol permit, according to documents obtained by Newsday through a Freedom of Information request with the prosecutor's office.
Ripp contacted the police department's Pistol License Bureau after interviewing Laffer regarding the theft of $8,220 from a bank account belonging to Laffer's mother. The woman declined to press charges against her son.
Ripp said in his report that he was told by an officer in the permit bureau that Laffer should be allowed to retain the permits, but there would be a follow-up investigation. It is not clear what, if any, follow-up took place.
Laffer also said he expects he will be killed in prison.
"I'm not even under any illusions that I'd make it 15 years," he told Newsday. "It'll serve as a punishment."
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